‘Resident Evil’ Producer Sees More Management-Creator Disputes

May 25 (Bloomberg) -- The producer behind the zombie-fighting “Resident Evil” games who left Capcom Co. after
clashing with management said more developers are likely to face
similar disputes as social games upend the industry.

“In this industry, it’s often the creators who have the
eye for potential hits but they’re not the ones deciding what
gets published,” Keiji Inafune, who left as head of research
and development of Capcom in November, said in an interview last
week in Tokyo. “We’ll see many more clashes as creator-management divides widen.”

Difficulty retaining talent would add to the pressure for
traditional video-game publishers, led by Electronic Arts Inc.
and Activision Blizzard Inc., which face rising production costs
and competition from companies churning out $1 games on
smartphones and free ones on social networks. Inafune said
companies that include creators in decision-making will be
better positioned to weather the challenges.

As game budgets climb into millions of dollars and
production times stretch into years, video game publishers have
become more risk-averse, preferring to rely on aging franchises,
said Inafune, who’s started two game companies since leaving
Capcom. Such shortsightedness may cause industry leaders to fall
behind social game upstarts such as Zynga Inc., Facebook Inc.’s
biggest game operator, he said.

‘Street Fighter,’ ‘Mega Man’

Inafune, 46, helped create some of the most popular game
franchises of the last 30 years, including “Street Fighter”
and “Mega Man.” His “Lost Planet” and “Dead Rising” series
sold more than 9 million units worldwide, according to Capcom
data.

Inafune said he quit Capcom because the board kept him out
of the decision-making process.

“There is no need to dwell on the past,” said Ryosuke
Tanaka, a spokesman at Osaka-based Capcom. “The company has
moved on to working on future growth strategy, creating a new
development organization and managerial structure.”

Inafune said he plans to release a social game title for
Japanese market as early as this month and a role-playing title
for Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 in August.

Games played on social networks are free, with publishers
charging for virtual goods that help players advance to higher
levels. Console video games such as Activision’s “Call of
Duty” shooter cost as much as $60 for a title, with additional
revenue from downloadable maps, weapons and other contents.

Major publishers have struggled to gain a foothold in the
market for games on social networks, which more than doubled to
$1.4 billion last year, according to researcher IHS Inc.’s
ISuppli.